Life After Flash

Actor Sam Jones produced this affectionate look at the 1980 film Flash Gordon (in which he starred in the title role), which was not the megahit that mogul Dino De Laurentiis desired but won cult status for its Fellini-esque designs, color, sublimely non-ironic camp attitude, and Queen’s music. Unsurprisingly, the framing device is Jones’s bio recast as the devoutly Christian’s path of redemption. Jones succumbed to Hollywood excess, after which his fame dissipated, and he re-invented himself (drawing on Marine Corps training) as a bodyguard/security specialist, committing anew to faith and family after reading Rick Warren’s 2002 religious bestseller The Purpose Driven Life. The good news for fans (besides the Good News) is that director Lisa Downs nicely interweaves conversations and on-set tales with a stellar Flash reunion of talent and admirers, including costars Melody Anderson, Brian Blessed, and Topol, filmmaker/fan Robert Rodriguez, Martha De Laurentiis (Dino’s widow), and Queen’s Brian May—a virtual Comic-Con panel, right down to comics artist Alex Ross and Film Threat editor/author Chris Gore. Jones’s positivity in hitting the nostalgia-expo trail is contagious as he begins to enjoy a career revival. Extras include a generous swag-bag-full of extended and deleted scenes. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)